A white-tailed sea eagle tries to fly from Guanting Reservoir in Beijing on December 31, 2009.(Photo Source: Globaltimes.cn)

It was a brown blob huddled on the white carpet of Guanting Reservoir. They never expected the pathetic, shivering creature on ice would turn out to be a white-tailed sea eagle.

As bird-watchers Liu Mengrong and husband Zhang Yong approached to within 10 meters, the once-majestic creature weakly flapped its wings and made to escape, but then fell heavily back to earth a few meters farther on.

"Evidently she was deeply hurt and I have no idea how many hours she had been lying on the ice in such freezing weather," Zhang told the Global Times.

It was about -10 C on December 31 at the junction of Yanqing county, Beijing, and Huailai county within the prefecture-level city of Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province.

"She was just so fragile, all trembling," Liu Mengrong said.

"But as I embraced her in my arms, I could feel this enormous craving for life. I made a pledge there and then I would do anything I could to save this creature any way I could."

Carrying the bird back to their car, they spotted another prone eagle about 100 meters away.

"We contacted the IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) Beijing Raptor Rescue Center immediately and decided to take them separately to make sure at least one might survive," said the couple's friend Yi Hechuan, who had come along in his own vehicle for their photographic birding trip.

The second eagle died on the 40-minute drive to the rescue center at Beijing Normal University. Established by IFAW and Beijing Normal University in December 2001, the center rescues, treats and rehabilitates birds of prey for release back into the wild.

Liu posted "The fate of the white-tailed sea eagle" on Beijing-based bird lovers' website www.birdnet.cn and 12,596 web users read the post, with 294 replies.

A common comment: Why?